Trump Is Courting Apolitical Young Men. Will It Pay Off?
Finn Murphy, a 20-year-old college student in Carolina Beach, N.C., generally stays away from politics. But when he listened to snippets of the podcast, he liked what he heard. That’s why, hair still wet from an afternoon of surfing, he was standing in line last week alongside people three times his age to cast a vote for Mr. Trump.
“He’s strong; he’s a man,” Mr. Murphy said. “I’m here to make sure he wins.”
Anecdotally, this is working. Trump has won over a lot of young men this way, if only because he appears “strong.”
Ever the showman, he’s closed the loop on making our politics entertainment. Recently, I heard a guy my age — single, white, rural, gay — tell me he really appreciated Trump working at a McDonalds for a day, “so he could understand what it’s like for those of us without anything.”
Nevermind that it was a choreographed publicity stunt — it worked.
What does this say about our country, that we can’t discern real from fake, television huckster from serious politician?
Some people would say there is no difference, and hasn’t been in many, many years.
We are not a serious people. And we might deserve what we get.
That fills me with sadness.